Straight beam adjustable jaw clamp



Aug. 23, 1960 J. 0. STORY STRAIGHT BEAM ADJUSTABLE JAW CLAMP 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 10, 1958 FIG../

INVENTOR. JOHN D. S TORY Aug. 23, 1960 J. D. STORY STRAIGHT BEAMADJUSTABLE JAW CLAMP Filed Nov. 10, 1958 me o@ 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 oooooooINVENTOR. JOHN 0. STORY BY a m A TTORNEVS STRAIGHT BEAM ADJUSTABLE JAWCLAMP John D. Story, 101 SE. 8th St., Bethany, Okla.

Filed Nov. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 772,945

3 Claims. (Cl. 144-303) This invention relates in general to clamps andmore particularly to a hand operated resilient clamp.

It is an object of this invention to provide a clamp which may bequickly and easily operated and which automatically accommodates itselfto work of varying shapes and sizes.

It is another object to provide a clamp of the character described whichrequires only one hand for application and removal from clampingposition and thus leaves the other hand of the clamp operator free forholding or positioning the work being clamped.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a clamp, asdescribed above, which is particularly well adapted for gluing and whichwill apply an even pressure to the glued joint without the necessity forperiodic retightening of the clamp jaws as the glued joint sets up. Afurther object of this invention is to provide a clamp of the characterdescribed which may be adjusted to accommodate work of a wide variety ofshapes and sizes and which is simple in design and easy of manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent fromthe following description when taken in conjunction with the drawingsforming a part of this specification, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of the clamp in side elevation;

Figure 2 is a view in plan;

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation showing work, indicated in phantomoutline, positioned between the clamped jaws;

Figure 4 is a view in end elevation of the clamp;

Figure 5 is a view in section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3illustrating the disposition of the outer clamp jaw relative to theclamp frame;

Figure 6 is a View in side elevation illustrating a modification of theclamp incorporating an extensible telescopic frame;

Figure 7 is a view in side elevation illustrating the telescopic framein contracted position; and

Figure 8 is a view in section taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 7illustrating the construction of the telescopic frame.

Referring now to the figures, there is shown in Figure l a clamp frame10 comprised of parallel spaced-apart bars 12 of rectangularcross-section, as shown in Figure 5. The bars 12 are tied together atone end by transverse member 14, which also serves as a spacer, and areprovided with a plurality of complementary apertures 16 spaced atintervals for a substantial portion of their lengths.

The adjustable jaw 18 of the clamp structure is provided with a workengaging face 19 and a shank 29, notched or relieved on its oppositesides, as at 22 (see Figure 5). The shank 20 is slidably receivedbetween the bars 12 and the fit between the notched areas of the shankand said bars prevents deflection of the work engaging face 19 of thejaw 18 away from its normal right angle disposition relative to thelongitudinal axes of the bars 12. The shank 20 is apertured, as at 24,

2,949,947 Patented Aug. 23, 1960 to receive a locking pin 26 passedthrough corresponding apertures 16 in the bars 12, as a means of fixingthe jaw 18 on the frame.

A resilient facing material 28, such as rubber or felt, is secured tothe work engaging face 19 of the jaw 18 to facilitate gripping of thework and, at the same time, to prevent marring of the articles beingclamped.

To provide a support for the second jaw of the clamp, a post 30 isrigidly mounted on the bars 12, With an outer portion 32 projecting atsubstantially right angles to the longitudinal axes of the bars inapposition to the jaw 18 and an inner portion received between the bars12 to which it is secured by means of the rivets 36. Integral with thepost 30 and extending beyond the bars 12 on the side thereof oppositethe portion 32 of the post 30, a hand grip 34 is provided for a purposeto be hereinafter described.

Although the combined post 30 and grip 34 are indicated to be separablefrom the frame bars 12, it should be understood that such arrangement isonly for convenience of manufacture. Thus, these members, or either ofthem, if preferred, can be made integral parts of the frame bars 12.

A lever 42 is fitted between the outer ends of the frame bars 12 andpivotally connected thereto by a pin 44. An end 50 of the lever 42extends from the bars 12 in complementary relation to the grip 34, whilethe opposite, or outer, levelled end 46 thereof projects from theopposite side of the bars 12 to normally bear through its bevelledportion against the outer portion 32 of the post 30 at an angle thereto.

The second jaw 58 of the clamp structure is carried at one end or" a rod54, the opposite end of which projects through an aperture 55 in portion32 of post 30 and a cone-shaped aperture 56 in the end 46 of lever 42,terminating in a ball-like enlargement or head 57. A coil spring 60encircles that portion of the rod 54 between the jaw 58 and post 32, andits ends engage bosses 61 and 62, respectively, disposed on the said jaw58 and post 32. Thus, jaw 53 is spring loaded and normally projected inits distended position relative to the opposite jaw 18. It isretractable upon movement of grip end 56 of lever 42 toward the fixedgrip 34 and resultant compression of spring 61).

Like jaw 18, jaw 58 is generally rectangular in shape and provided witha work-engaging face 63 covered with a facing material for likepurposes. In Figure 6 the modified clamp is shown as comprising a frameof telescopic design for accommodating work of a wide variety of sizesand shapes. It incorporates an outer tubular member 7% and an innertubular member 72 telescopically disposed therein, as shown in Figure 8.While the said tubular members 70 and 72 have been shown as squared incross-section, it will be appreciated that they may, if desired, becylindrical. An outer jaw 74 of generally rectangular shape is carriedby the outer tube member 70 and adapted for adjusting movement thereon.The outer jaw '74 is provided at its lower end with a collar 76 whichclosely embraces member 70, preventing such outer jaw from rotative ortilting move ment relative to the box member 7%. There are provided ateither side of collar '76 apertures 78 which are positioned for registrywith similarly disposed and opposing apertures 81 and 82 in tubularmembers 70 and 72, respectively. As shown in Figure 8, the apertures 78,and 82, when registered, serve to receive a locking pin 84 which fixesthe position of the outer jaw 74 relative to the outer tubular member70. The work-engaging surface 86 of outer jaw 74 is suitably coveredwith a resilient material, as in the case of jaws 18 and 58.

Fixing of the outer tubular member 70 relative to the inner tubularmember 72 may be accomplished by; positioning of the locking pin 84, asabove described, when these telescoping members are in an overlappingposition at the location where fixing of the outer jaw 74 is desired, asillustrated in Figure 7. Should tubular members 7t) and 72 be in anon-overlapping position at such point, as in Figure 6, they may befixed against movement relative to each other by use of a second lockingpin 88 inserted through their respective aligned apertures 80 and 82.

The mounting of the inner jaw 112 is substantially the same as in thecase of the forms of the device shown in Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, andthe description thereof may be relatively brief. A post 90 is secured tothe inner tubular member 72, as by welding, and is provided at its outerend with an aperture 94, and its inner end terminates in a grip orhandle 96 projecting from the side of the member 72 opposite the post90.

A lever 100 is pivotally secured through pin 102 to the projecting arms104 of a yoke formed by extending the sides of the inner tubular member72. One end of the lever 100 is bevelled and projects from the member 72at an angle to and normally abutting post 90, and its opposite end 105projects from member 72 to complement grip 96. The end of lever 100abutting post 90 is provided with a conical-shaped aperture 106 insubstantial registry with aperture 94 therein.

law 112 is carried at one end of a rod 108, the opposite end of whichextends through apertures 94 and 106 in post 90 and lever 100,respectively, terminating in an enlarged head 110 engaging the end ofsaid lever. A coil spring 116 encircles the rod 108 between jaw 112 andpost 91] and engages bosses 118 and 120, respectively, disposed thereon.Like the other jaws, the work-engaging surface of jaw 112 is covered bya resilient material 114.

In the operation of the first form of the device (Figures 1 to 3,inclusive) the operator first gauges the overall thickness of the piecesto be joined and appropriately positions the jaw 18 by removal of thelocking pin 26 and a sliding of the jaw along the bars 12 to thedetermined position, with reinsertion of the pin. 26 fixing the jaw inits new position. Manual movement of the lever grip 50 toward fixed grip34 by squeezing them causes the lever to rock on its pivot and throughengagement with head 110 to draw rod 54 through post 32 and thus compress the spring 60. This action moves jaw 58 relatively away from jaw18 to permit engagement or insertion of the laminated pieces to bejoined, and when the psitioning is accomplished the manual pressure onlever 42 is relaxed to permit expansion of the spring 60 to force jaw 58into engagement with a surface of the work or pieces to be joined.

' As will be appreciated, the actual clamping of the work in the mannerabove described is a one-handed operation, leaving the other hand 'ofthe operator free for aligning and guiding of the pieces to be joined.

As shown in Figure 3, the adjustable jaw 18 is suitably positionedrelative to the jaw 58 for clamping about the work 122. However, shouldthe work be of greater size than can be accommodated by manualretraction of the jaw 58 away from the jaw 18 through the rocking of thelever 42 or of a size smaller than can be accommodated by the extensionof jaw 58 in the direction of the jaw 18 through the action of spring60, the adjustable jaw 18 may conveniently be moved relative to jaw 58by removal of the locking pin 26 from its. locking position. Guided bythe bars 12, the jaw 18 is accordingly re-positioned to accommodate thework and the locking pin replaced in locking position. Because thetravel of jaw 58 is limited by abutment of lever 41-2 with post 30, thedesired spacing of the jaws may be easily gauged while the biasing forceof spring 60 is at the same time maintained within fixed From the above,it may be seen that rough adjustment of the jaw spacing may be achievedthrough movement of jaw 18, the resiliently biased jaw 58 then servingas a work-seeking fine adjustment. It is this Work-seeking feature ofthe inner jaw which is of particular advantage in the clamping togetherof wood members for gluing. With the inner jaw 58 constantly urged bythe compression spring 60 in the direction of the adjustable jaw 18 andinto engagement with the work, an even clamping pressure on the gluedjoint is assured at all times during set-up, and the tedious andtime-consuming re-tightening of the clamp, often associated with thegluing together of wood members in the use of conventional clampingdevices, is eliminated. The resilient material secured to thework-engaging surfaces 28 and 63 of jaws 18 and 58 of course serve toprevent both the slippage of the clamp relative to the work and themarring of the work surface in its engagement with the jaws.

The biasing force exerted by the compression spring 60 against the innerjaw 58 may be varied as desired by changing the spring. In order tofacilitate such spring changing, the enlarged end portion 57 may be aseparate member threaded to the end of the rod 54 for easy removal topermit disassembly of the rod from its installed position in handle 42and post 30.

But for its extensible telescoping frame, the operation of the modifiedclamp of Figure 6 is essentially similar to that of the clamp ofFigure 1. Thus, the operator, through gripping the complemental grip 96and the lever end 105, is able to effect the pivotal movement of lever109 and the desired movement of jaw 58. Coil spring 116 serves to urgejaw 112 into a work-engaging position and the same advantages areinherent in this arrangement as those cited above for the clamp ofFigure 1.

Through use of the telescoping tubular members 70 and '72, the abilityof the modified clamp to adapt to various loads is considerablyincreased. Thus, not only is the outer jaw 74 movable relative to itsimmediate supporting member for accommodating the work, but the frameitself may be adjusted to accommodate such work. As indicated above, inthe extended position of Figure 6 an additional locking pin 88 isrequired for locking the members 70 and 72 relative to one another. Therelative positions of members 70 and 72 may, of course, be easilyadjusted by removing and replacing the locking pin 88 in appropriatealigned apertures of such members. When the clamp frame is in acontracted position, such as that of Figure 7, the locking pin 88 may bedispensed with and the locking pin 84 utilized both for the locking ofthe jaw 74 and the members 70 and 72, as shown in Figure 8. It shouldhere be noted that additional apertured telescopic members may be addedwhere necessary to permit increased spacing of the jaws to accommodatework of relatively large size.

From the above it can be seen that I have provided a clamp of relativelysimple design, quickly and easily operated and having wide application.It will be appreciated that the embodiments of this invention as hereindescribed may be altered, changed or modified without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention as herein claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A clamp comprising in combination, a frame including a pair ofparallel spaced apart bars, each bar having a plurality of complementaryapertures, an adjustable jaw having an aperture therein and havingnotches on opposite sides slidably received between the bars with thenotches fitting the respective bars to prevent deflection of thework-engaging face of the jaw from a right angle disposition relative tothe longitudinal axes of the bars, a locking pin adapted for insertioninto the jaw aperture and in corresponding bar apertures in registrytherewith for fixing said jaw on the frame, a post rigidly mounted onthe bars having an outer apertured portion projecting substantially atright angles to the longitudinal axes of the bars in apposition to theadjustable jaw and a hand-grip portion projecting beyond the side of thebars opposite said outer apertured portion, a lever mounted intermediateof its ends between the outer ends of the bars and for pivotal movementrelative thereto having an outer apertured portion adapted to bearagainst the outer apertured portion of the post and a portion disposedin complementary relationship with the grip portion of the post for handgripping by the clamp operator to eflect pivotal movement of the lever,a second jaw carried at one end of a rod, the opposite end of whichprojects through the respective apertures in the outer portions of thepost and the lever terminating in a head adapted to bear upon the leveras the latter is manually pivoted to efiect movement of the rod and thesecond jaw carried thereby, said head thereby limiting the movement ofthe rod and said second jaw as the lever outer portion abuttinglyengages the post outer portion, and a coil spring encircling thatportion of the rod between said second jaw and the post and urging saidhead to bear against the lever while urging said second jaw to projectinto a normal distended position relative to the adjustable jaw forcooperation therewith in the clamping of work positioned between saidaws.

2. A clamp comprising in combination, a frame, a jaw secured to theframe, a post secured to the frame having an outer portion with anaperture therein and a grip portion, said outer portion projectingbeyond the frame in apposition to the jaw and said grip portionprojecting beyond the frame oppositely from said outer portion, a leverpivoted to the frame having an outer portion with an enlarged aperturetherein adapted to bear against the outer portion of the post and aportion disposed in complementary relationship with the grip portion ofthe post for manual gripping in conjunction therewith to elfect pivotalmovement of the lever, a second jaw carried at one end of a rod theopposite end of which extends through the apertures in the outerportions of the post and the lever terminating in a head adapted to bearupon the lever as said lever is pivoted to move the rod and the secondjaw carried thereby, said head limiting the movement of the rod and saidsecond jaw as the lever outer portion abuttingly engages the post outerportion, and a coil spring encircling the portion of the rod betweensaid second jaw and the post and urging said head to bear against thelever while urging said second jaw to project toward the jaw secured tothe frame with which latter the second jaw is adapted to cooperate inclamping together work inserted between said jaws.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein the jaw secured to the frame hasan aperture therein and is movable longitudinally of the frame and theframe is provided with complementary apertures, corresponding aperturesof the frame being adapted for registry with the aperture in the jaw forreceiving a loo-king pin to fix the jaw on the frame, and the frameincludes a pair of tubular members disposed one Within the other intelescopic relationship for permitting adjustment of the spacing betweenthe movable jaw and the second jaw to accommodate work of various sizesand shapes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 63,356Arvin Apr. 2, 1867 195,186 Tyner Sept. 11, 1877 824,724 Keays July 3,1906 825,171 Anderson July 3, 1906 927,067 Oflineer July 6, 19091,583,611 Seely May 4, 1926 2,154,869 Sampson Apr. 18, 1939 2,889,730Keiniger June 9, 1959

